Phoenix

21.

There was pin-drop silence in the office of the security chief. Two NIS agents were stunned hearing Dr. Donnen. they were trying to digest the whole thing.
Jin opened his mouth after a while, "how sure are you about what you are claiming, doctor?"

"Cent percent, Mr. Kim," replied Donnen, "whether someone believes it or not, there is an Uno outside of our circle. It is the bitter truth, there is nothing to deny it. But no one can say who that person is, how or why that person came to be."

"I don't want to believe it, sir," said Arya frankly.
"You sure you are not somehow, wrong? Have you seen the sign of this Uno anywhere apart from that one time?"

"No," Donnen shook his head from side to side, "but that is not abnormal. That person is stronger than us in this field, he or she may have become more cautious since that incident.
There is nothing to be surprised about if his mark is not seen anywhere. Maybe he is just laying low to evade our eyes. I've been thinking about this for some time but eventually gave up getting no clue to proceed on and the whole thing slowly got old and I forgot about it until you guys brought it up."

"... But if there is no one who can know the Uno-code, how can he be more skillful than you?"

"If I knew that answer, then the mystery wouldn't have been any mystery. But the virus you are talking about is none other than his work. He has that kind of skill."

"Doctor, who could be this mysterious Uno- can you guess it? Any clue?" asked Jin in a serious tone.

Donnen shrugged, "sorry, I have no idea. If there was any clue, then I could have found him four years ago."

"The situation is different from back then. He didn't kill your friends back then or didn't put the world in a tough position. Now he is. I hope you understand how important it is to find that person?"

"Yes I understand, Mr. Kim. I too want to catch that bastard. but like I said, I have no clue."

"There have to be- maybe you know it- whether you know it in the conscious or subconscious mind," Jin said absentmindedly, "you are the creator of the code, so whether it is number eleven or a thousand, he has to learn it from any of you guys. I'm sure there is some link of that person with any of the ten of you."

"Impossible!" Donnen protested, "we made a promise not to let the code fall in anyone's hands, and no one broke it - this I can guarantee."

"You shouldn't ensure this kind of guarantee anymore, doctor," Jin scoffed, "you yourself did not keep the promise- you taught Arya Uno-code."

"God damn it, Mr. Kim!" The scientist was angered, "you shouldn't talk about something you have no idea about. What she knows- you won't call it learning if you have some common sense. She just can recognize a few numbers, knows a little bit of the letters, nothing more. Someone can't make a whole virus program out of that knowledge. Suppose I taught you a few letters and numbers of any unknown language. Does that mean you can now fluently write a novel in that language?"

Jin accepted the logic and nodded a little, "I apologise, doctor. I did not say that to insult you. I wanted to say that there might be the possibility of other Unos teaching someone the code. But their teaching might not be as limited  as yous."

Dr. calmed down this time and he said, "I don't think that something like that has happened, Mr. Kim. Arya's case is different. You may know how determined and persistent she can be..."

Jin remembered her character from the very beginning he knew her and nodded a little, "oh yeah, I know it very well."

Arya also smiled shyly.

"Anyway," said Donnen, "one day I was sitting in the office with Uno-0code. While I was working, she peeked and saw everything. Since then you can't imagine how this stubborn girl started to bother me. However she was my best student and I liked her too much to avoid her or be angry. So I eventually gave up and taught her a couple of basic things. If my friends too have taught someone that much, it shouldn't be any problem. As I said, someone can't make any useable program out of that little knowledge. Even after that incident four years ago, I talked to all seven of them personally, and they guaranteed that they did not teach the code to anyone. I can't see any reason to disbelieve them after that."